UFC releases Shannon Gugerty and Eliot Marshall

The pruning of the UFC roster has continued as Eliot “the Fire” Marshall and Shannon Gugerty have both been released from the UFC roster after suffering losses at this past weekend’s UFC on Versus event.

Gugerty is 2-3 after losing to Clay Guida on the preliminary portion of the UFC’s debut on the cable sports network.

The release of Elliot Marshall comes as a surprise to many. Marshall who lost a split decision to Vladimir Matyushenko on the preliminary portion of the UFC on Versus 1 card, is 3-1 in the UFC.

Boasting an overall professional record of 8-2 Marshall’s release is fueling speculation that the manner in which fighters lose as well as win fights is becoming a bigger determining factor in longevity with the company .

There are two sides to this knife which cuts fighters from the promotion, this is one. The other side of the knife is you don’t have to win all your fights to stay with the promotion, just be exciting and endear yourself to the majority of the fans.

Also not mentioned, Sherdog credentions were cut from the promotion as well.

I’m a little surprised about Marshall, but most fighters are on 4 fight contracts with UFC when they start, so it is probably more like they just decided to not re-new his contract. They can let him work on his game while someone else pays the bill. I think he will be back, because he has the potential to be a top 15 fighter, he just needs to put 1 or 2 wins together.

Stephan Bonnar won’t get cut; Dana has pretty much said so in the past. He credits Bonnar and Griffin as part of getting The Ultimate Fighter and UFC to where it is today. His loyalty for the season 1 guys is pretty transparent.

manny: I wanna know when is Stephan Bonnar going to get cut?
#1-He’s in a losing steak #2 Not an exciting fighter #3-Should stick to commentating.

He hasn’t been cut for the same reason Chris Lytle, Jeremy Horn, and Elvis Sinosic will never be cut.. Because Dana likes them.. It may not be fair, but hey, he’s the boss.. Lytle went two full years on a “win one, lose one” type streak.. Sinosic, to this day, is only 1-6 in the UFC, but there will always be a fight waiting for him here, especially now that they’ve spread to Australia.. Bonnar, like it or not, DID perform in a now-legendary fight with Forrest that skyrocketed the UFC’s fan base..

Now, back on topic, I’m wondering why they’d let Marshall go so easily.. This was his first loss in the UFC, right? And it was to Matyushenko? and a Split Decision at that? Little harsh if you ask me.. But, I won’t miss him or anything..